20.3 On Ruins and Ruination

Description

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in ruins and ruination by artists and theorists. But where does our contemporary fascination with ruins come from? What are its causes and contradictions, along with its politics, economics, ecologics? Why now? How does it relate to other historical epoques, no less beset with what Rose Macaulay termed ruinenlust? And, perhaps most urgently, what are we meant do with this decay? How to live in a world of ruins? While many of these questions have been approached by different disciplines and subject fields, this edition of Performance Research sets out to explore the specific contribution that Theatre and Performance Studies, with its unique methodologies and practices, might make to our current obsession with ruins and ruination. Contributions include essays on photography, writing, theatre-making, ecology, aesthetics, autobiography, dark tourism, heritage sites and cities.